A Fine Line
by boshrocks
Summary: DASEY It's a fine line between love and hate. For Casey this line is getting thicker by the minute. read and review please.
1. Guitars

Casey sighed as she heard the loud music coming from the room next to her.

For one thing she was a little confused. Today was Friday night and Derek wasn't out with a girl. He must be ill.

The loud rock music was in fact not Derek's stereo, but Derek himself. Recently he had taken up the electric guitar again. Presumably this was to annoy Casey even more than he already did.

Not that he needed to annoy her much, he did that anyway. The two had never got on since her mum had married his dad.

Although she would never admit it, she kinda had feelings for him and the only thing that was stopping her from telling him was that he was her stepbrother. She wasn't sure if what it would be if they got together. Would it class as incest? She didn't know.

Yes she did have feelings for him but it was either being completely head over heels in love with him…or wanting to curse him into oblivion for being such an arrogant brat. There was a fine line between them. They would be in supper for instance and he would be annoying her and then she really wanted to stick his head on a pole but then he would flash that gorgeous smile at her or play a little with her little sister Marti, and then the scales tipped the other way and she was in love again. It really got on her nerves as she couldn't decide whether she loved or hated him.

She tried to carry on studying though the noise but she just couldn't concentrate.

She got up and banged on the wall and yelled that he should have more consideration to the rest of the house and, indeed, the rest of the neighbourhood.

This was to no avail however and so she decided that immediate action was necessary, which brought her to the door of a certain Derek Venturi.

She decided to forgo the knock and barged right in.

What she saw made her jaw drop and then she had to suppress a giggle that was threatening to escape.

Derek stood there, on his bed, playing his guitar wearing nothing but a pair of red silk boxers.

He noticed she was there and very nearly fell off his bed in surprise.

"Casey! What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came in to tell you to keep it down a bit. I'm trying to study."

"Oh, sorry. Can't you take a night off, for once? I'll play you something."

"No Derek. I have to work. Aren't you supposed to be on a date anyway?"

"Um no. Hannah kinda blew me off tonight."

Casey actually did fall over at this news.

He put his guitar down and went over to her to help her up.

They stood there, only inches from each other. He was still holding her hand.

_Just a few more inches…_Casey was thinking. _A few more inches and we'll be kissing. No stop it! Stepbrother! Yeah…STEPbrother. Oh, go away. Stupid voice!_

They gazed into each other's eyes. He ran his thumb over her knuckles. The mere touch of his skin on hers sent chills down her back and yet still felt warm and somehow right.

Her mental battle was now going into overtime.

If Casey had been able to read his thoughts she would discover that they ran similar to hers.

They held the moment before they both remembered that he was dressed only in those boxers. They broke away from each other, embarrassed. Then Casey slipped back into her own room.

There was silence for a moment and then he heard her explode with laughter. He also thought he heard her squeal something along the lines of oh god this is so wrong.

He grinned to himself before picking up his guitar again. Before he started playing again he heard the laughter subside and assumed she had gone back to her work, shrugged and turned the volume up again.

"DEREK!" every voice in the house except Marti's yelled.

_So, you wanna play like that, do you? Well, two can play at that game. Can't wait to see the surprise on their faces._

Something Casey had kept a secret from the male population in her house was that she two played electric guitar. She had inherited a green Gibson Les Paul SG from her dad after he died and he had taught her how to play it very well. She hadn't told them about her skill and she hadn't played it for a while.

She went to her wardrobe and pulled out her guitar case and amp. She plugged it all in and tuned it up.

She began to play the riff to Smoke on the Water. After a while she heard the guitar from next door stop playing. She switched to Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. Then smoothly into one of the guitar solos in Through the Fire and the Flames by Dragonforce. This solo was incredibly difficult and even Derek hadn't mastered it yet.

She casually switched again to Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen as she turned to see him standing in her doorway, still only wearing his boxers.

"Why didn't you tell me you could play?"

She shrugged and grinned, changing to the guitar solo at the end of We Will Rock You.

He just stood and stared at her.

He opened his mouth to say something, lost track and shut his mouth again. He then repeated this several times. It was rather cute actually.

He turned and walked forward as though to go back to his room. Unfortunately he forgot that he had closed the door behind him, and since he was still in shock that Casey could play guitar, he walked into the door and fell backwards.

He must have hit his head as he hit the floor because he passed out. When he woke up his head was in Casey's lap and she was dabbing something wet to his forehead.

"Welcome back." She said smiling kindly at him.

"Okay, that was embarrassing!"

"Funny though." He glared at her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't make fun of you when you're suffering from your humiliation that only your stepsister saw."

"Don't tell people about me being such a klutz."

"I won't. You wanna jam together sometime?"

"Sure, if I can keep up with you. Do you realise how long it's taking me to master Through the Fire and the Flames solos? But you have mastered it already. How come you're so good?"

"My, my dad taught me. It was his guitar. I don't know how I learnt songs so fast, though. All I need to do to learn a new song is to listen to the song for about ten minutes and test around a little on my guitar and I've learnt it. I need a new challenge."

"Wow, so everything you do really is perfect, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when Marti made us watch Mary Poppins when we were babysitting the brats? Well you're just like her. Practically perfect in every way."

"You think I'm perfect?"

"Oops! Forget I said that! I've gotta go. Night."

He dashed out of the room and back into his own, this time making sure to open all the doors.

Casey smiled and went back to her guitar. When she picked up her guitar she knocked over her case and out spilled all these song sheets.

They had been written by her dad, and a few she had composed. She gathered them up and read the title of the topmost one.

It read I Don't Know What To Do With Him.

She had written it after she had met Derek for the first time but she had yet to set it to music.

_May as well do that now. Got nothing better to do anyway. _She thought.


	2. Thunderstorms

Casey and Derek were bored.

Very bored.

The rest of the family were out at the zoo for the day and Casey and Derek had been left alone at home.

For once in their lives they were both incredibly bored.

Nothing in the house would entertain them. They had tried to watch TV but there was nothing interesting to watch. Casey had tried to read and work but she got very distracted. Derek had tried to concentrate on his games but they were none of them particularly enlightening. All of their friends were out doing other things.

"Let's go for a walk, Derek." Casey suggested.

"Sure. Beats staying here and not doing anything." He said without much enthusiasm.

"Meet me back here in ten minutes then."

They naturally had an argument as to where they should go and so they decided on a compromise. They would go for a walk in the woods.

Surprisingly it clouded up incredibly quickly and therefore got very dark very quickly.

And they got lost.

And it started to rain.

In fact, they were suddenly caught in a huge thunderstorm.

"Great! Now what do we do?" Derek asked Casey.

"Look! There's a hut. Let's take shelter there until the storm stops. Then we can try and find our way home."

"Good plan, Einstein. Now let's get out of this rain before my hair frizzes."

"You're such a girl, Derek."

They got into the hut and then they realised how dark it was. The hut had no electricity.

He sat down and she sat opposite him. They settled down for a long wait.

Later.

"Man, I am so bored! I thought we went out for a walk to not get bored?" Derek moaned.

"I know. But we will have to make the most of it."

"Do you ever get gloomy? I mean, nothing ever dampens your spirit does it?"

"You do sometimes. I either hate you with a vengeance or lo-like you as a friend and brother."

_Phew! That was close…too close!_ She thought.

"Do you really hate me?" he looked both curious and a little upset at the same time.

"Sometimes. You do annoy the hell out of me. Why do you do that?"

"I'm not really sure. You give some great reactions and you seem too nice to respond with another prank. Although, I will say you can be pretty feisty in our fights."

"Well I'm not around to see you take full control of the house. And thank you." She spoke graciously but she didn't look happy.

She was quiet for a while and Derek studied her face.

"What's up?"

"Can I ask you something? Yes I know I just did, but I have another question. And I want the truth here. No being Mr Cool. There's no one here but us. I'm looking for the real Derek. Not the Derek that ignores me at school unless he wants something. Okay here goes. What do you really feel about me? Do you hate me? Because that's the message I'm getting from you at the moment."

"I don't hate you, far from it. In fact you're the best person I have ever met. Remember what I said about you being perfect? Well I think you are. You are unlike any other woman I have ever met and were it not for mitigating circumstances I could see us getting together. The only thing that is stopping me from doing anything about the way I feel about you is by reminding myself that you're my sister."

"Yeah, stepsister. We aren't related by blood. The only way we're related is by the fact that my mum married your dad."

He looked at her for a moment and then leant forwards and kissed her on the lips.

_OH MY GOD! Derek is KISSING me! This is the best day of my life! Mmm, he tastes so good. _She thought gleefully.

He deepened the kiss and Casey now understood why he had so many girlfriends. He was a really good kisser.

Then he broke the kiss and she opened her eyes in surprise. He was staring at her.

"That was a mistake, wasn't it? I shouldn't have done that. Now I've ruined everything! I'm gonna go now."

He jumped up and ran out of the hut into the rain.

"But Derek! We're both lost." She called after him from the doorway of the hut.

He had already disappeared.

She slumped to the ground and started to cry. She didn't understand what had happened. A few minutes ago she was on top of the world. Now she was alone, lost, in a small hut with the thunderstorm buffeting around outside.

She sat there for a moment before pulling herself together. Turning she realised that Derek had forgotten his bag.

She tried to retrace her steps back through the woods and managed fairly well. Before long she had found the path again.

Derek meanwhile had found a short way back to the house and as he walked into his home he realised that his family were back from the zoo. Uh-oh.

"Where have you been? And where's Casey?"

"Isn't she back yet? I thought she would get back long before I would."

Before George could start shouting at him the front door slammed.

Casey stood there, soaked to the skin, clutching both the bags and looking very angry.

"DEREK! How dare you leave me alone out there!"

She thrust his bag into his chest and then slapped him round the face. The rest of the family gasped, they had never seen her so angry before.

She looked a right state. She was wet and her hair was dripping. Her eyes were red from crying and her teeth chattered. Her white t-shirt was almost completely see-through and her jeans were plastered to her legs.

She was shouting at Derek, who was visibly cowering from her wrath. The saying goes hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and believe me Derek felt like he would rather take a holiday in hell than be faced with this.

Suddenly she stopped shouting.

With tears streaming down her face she bolted for the stairs.


	3. Making up

Before long the family heard the Gibson from Casey's room. They also heard her singing.

That was a surprise even to her blood family. Well, all except Lizzie. She grinned and Edwin looked at her in confusion.

"She taught me how to sing. She's been singing for years. It's no biggie."

"Who else didn't get the memo about her being so musical?" George said looking equally as confused as his youngest son.

Derek was being gloomy in the corner. He heard Casey playing and groaned quietly.

_Why did I do that? Why did I have to kiss her? Now she hates me! Listen to her, she's playing out her anger. _He thought. _She sings so well. Come on Derek! You aren't gonna let this slide. You're gonna go talk to her about it. What! No way! Come on Derek, be a man! Fine._

He rose swiftly and walked determinedly up the stairs.

He stopped at her door and gently pushed it open. She heard it and turned to face him. Without pausing she indicated that he should sit on her bed. Which he did.

"Case, stop playing. We need to talk."

She grinned and kept singing.

She switched to I'll be there for you, the theme song from Friends.

He took the hint and joined in, just in time for the first set of claps.

She didn't hate him. This song was a peace treaty. They were friends again.

He drummed out the beat on his air drum kit.

When the song ended they just stood and stared at each other for a moment.

Derek opened his mouth as though he was going to say something. Casey knew he was going to apologise and she realised that she didn't need to hear it.

"It's okay Derek. I forgive you."

"Jeez! You could at least let me apologise!"

She chuckled and started the riff to Brown Eyed Girl. He jumped up and started singing with the hugest grin on his face.

She played for him and he sang for her.

The family heard it and smiled to each other. Lizzie and Edwin high fived and Marti started doing five year old cartwheels around the room.

"Finally they're getting on!" George said hugging his wife.

"Lovers fights are swift to heal, right honey?" she replied.

"Wait, lovers?"

"Oh come on George! Even you can't be that slow! Case fell in love with him the instant she met him and he fell for her shortly afterwards. I'm surprise they haven't gotten together before now. Something happened while they were out on that walk, I'll bet anything. Derek wouldn't just abandon her in the middle of the storm unless he'd done something he hadn't meant to, like tell her about his feelings. I reckon he has and that's why she's forgiven him so quickly." Nora said looking _very_ pleased with herself.

"Wow. When did you get so clever?"

"I'm not being clever, just observant. I am a mother after all."

Casey and Derek were now seated side by side on her bed.

"So, now you know about my feelings, you have to tell me yours." He said trying to get her to look at him.

Slowly she raised her eyes to meet his.

"I have no words to describe my feelings."

"Oh." Was all he said, and he sounded so sad when he said it.

She looked down at her knees and then without warning pushed him flat on his back.

She leant over him and her loose hair fell across her face. He reached up and tucked it behind her ear absentmindedly.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" he asked her softly.

"What do you think?" she asked although she knew that he already knew the answer.

She leant in and kissed him gently. She just wanted to taste him again. To feel that velvety softness again.

His tongue slipped out and ran along her bottom lip begging for entrance, which she granted.

Their tongues battled for power. As with everything else to do with them, neither wanted to relinquish control.

Derek seemed to come to his senses and realising that she was in the more dominant position, with her almost lying on top of him, he suddenly decided he was going to be a gentleman and gave in for a moment before realising what he was doing and remembering who he was.

He rolled them over so he was on top and started to plant light feathery kisses over her jaw line. She moaned in pleasure, which only spurred him on.

He moved slowly down her neck until he reached her collarbone. He ran his tongue over it and she moaned again, her hands snaking under his shirt to feel his toned body.

His hand meanwhile was under her shirt and was inching it's way up to her breasts. As his fingertips brushed the fabric of her bra she pulled away and told him to go back to his room.

He glared at her without moving. She pushed him off and they sat facing each other.

"I don't get you Case."

"Neither do I really!" she giggled. "I know that I want to go further with you, just not yet. Besides if I don't take things slow then you'll get bored of me and move on." She leant over and put her hands on his knees and slowly, teasingly, sliding them up his thighs.

She pecked him on the lips and then told him to get out of her room before it got out of hand.

When he had shut the door behind him he realised that George was standing on the other side of the hall with his arms crossed. But he was smiling.

"Um, Case?" Derek said knocking on the door still facing his dad.

"Yeah, what?" she opened the door and since Derek was leaning against it he fell backwards a bit. She caught him and set him back on his feet. Then she noticed George.

She bit her lip and looked worried. Derek just thought she looked so cute. No! Focus! Angry dad!

"I think we need to have a little talk."


	4. Talk with George

Derek and Casey exchanged worried looks as they stood shoulder to shoulder facing George.

"Don't look so worried. Yes I know about the two of you, thanks to Nora, and I say do what you want. Just remember, this house is g-rated. No naughty business when the family is in the house."

"In other words, we wait until they go out!" Derek whispered to Casey.

"I heard that! Fine, just wait till we're out of the house. The last thing I want to hear is you two doing it when the kids are around. What if one of them walks in on you? Doesn't bear thinking about."

Shuddering he went downstairs.

Casey looked at Derek and then tried to suppress a snort of laughter.

"I have a plan. You wanna do stuff while they're in the house?"

"Always! Tell me." Derek replied eagerly.

She grinned and told him to go wait in his room.

She returned to her own and he heard Casey playing her guitar.

Then Casey entered his room, but the guitar was still playing. He heard the lock on his door click.

"Okay…how are you still playing?"

"Don't you know anything, Derek? It's a recorded CD of me playing all of my favourite riffs. It's on shuffle so we have as long as you want."

He pulled her down onto his bed.

"And here I thought you couldn't be that cunning."

She giggled and untied her hair. She swept it over her shoulder and noted that he had watched her closely.

She looked at him innocently and he grinned in a devilish manner.

He reached out and pulled her to him. She kept his gaze and then leant in and kissed him gently.

His enthusiasm took over and soon they were in full make out fever.

She lay back on the bed and he leant over her, planting kisses along her jawline and down her neck. Her hands slipped under his shirt and traced circles on his back, making him squirm a little to the tickling sensation she was causing.

His hands were on her waist but she noticed that one of them was very slowly inching it's way up again. It stopped just under the curve of her breast.

He paused his kisses to look into her eyes.

"Promise you won't stop me?"

She grinned and pulled his pouting mouth down to kiss it again.

Again he pulled away slightly.

"You didn't answer my question."

"No, I won't stop you."

He grinned at her and kissed her again. He moved his hand that extra inch and ran his fingers over the material of her bra.

She sighed against his mouth making it tingle pleasantly.

His other hand had now sought out the buttons of her shirt and as hers moved to remove his shirt, he deftly undid the buttons.

The kisses moved down her neck again and this time they did not stop at her collarbone.

She moaned as his tongue trailed over one of her half exposed breasts.

Then they stopped suddenly as Nora was heard knocking on the door.

Derek grunted in frustration and went to answer the door.

But he couldn't open it.

"Derek, I locked it."

"Oh, right." He said embarrassed.

He tried to turn the lock, but it wouldn't budge.

"Oh no! Case, come here a second and try the door."

She had no luck either.

"Oh no! We're stuck here!" they said together.


	5. Trapped?

"Derek?" Casey asked later that night. She looked down at him lounging on the bed next to her.

"What?" he replied nonchalantly.

"How long do you think we'll be stuck in here?"

"I don't know. But I do blame you for locking the door in the first place."

"Excuse me? I did it so they wouldn't catch us. Besides, I unlocked it earlier. I can't understand why its not opening. Unless you wanted to be caught? Maybe you think it's sexy to be caught in the act by your family. Is it a turn on for you?"

"Case, you know perfectly well that you are the thing that turns me on, no matter what."

"I am?"

"Surely you knew that?"

"Um, no Derek I didn't."

"Never mind. Earlier, when we were in your room, you never answered my question. What are your feelings for me?"

Casey hesitated, should she tell the truth here or bluff her way out of it?

"Well, there are times when I decide that I like you, and then I really, really do. But then you do something to annoy me and then I remember that I hate you. And then you'll smile at me or something and I'll melt again. It's a fine line between the two."

"What, between hatred and liking?"

"No. Between hatred and loving."

Derek got up from his seat next to her on the bed and walked towards the window. He stood there gazing out of the window with his back to her.

"Loving?" he said quietly.

"Yes. Don't be angry, Derek, but I must confess that I… I have loved you since the moment I met you. I couldn't help it. Yes, there are times when the balance is tipped towards love, but then again, it can just as easily swap to deepest hatred. You had better watch yourself that it doesn't stay that way."

"You don't want to love me?"

"I meant that it doesn't stay at hatred, idiot. See, that's how easily it can switch."

She got up and wandered over to his guitar. He turned and watched her movements carefully as she ran a hand lovingly over the head of his Fender Strat.

Delicately she picked it up and carried it back to the bed. She began to strum out a melody that he had never heard before.

He listened quietly as he watched her.

"What is that?"

"I wrote it."

"Play something I know."

Cue. I'll Be There For You.

He sang it softly and then jumped up on the bed and did his dorky dance while the guitar solo was being played by the girl he loved, who was laughing at how ridiculous he was.

Finally they couldn't take it and Casey replaced the guitar and they both collapsed on the bed laughing.

Twenty minutes later they were still laughing.

Then they played Rock, Paper, Scissors Secrets.

Derek lost first and supplied her with how he sometimes dreamt of Lizzie and Marti chasing him with a large net.

She then lost and told him how she used to try guys clothes on in the department store, since she used to wish she was a boy.

He lost and complied with the fact that he actually liked reading kiddie books to Marti.

She looked at him then as though she were worrying for his sanity.

"What? They're funny."

She lost the next and admitted that her hair colour was actually ginger like her father's was and that she only kept it brow through continuous permanent dyes.

He said that he faked tanned sometimes.

She revealed that until recently she was terrified of the dark.

He said that his dearest ambition when he was little was to be a pirate.

She confessed that when someone had told her about ghosts, she had believed them and still believed in them.

"When I left you in that hut, were you scared?"

"Yes, of course I was, Derek. Even when you were there I was more scared than I dare to admit now."

Derek leant in and hugged her and just held her there. It was such a peaceful moment that it was several minutes before he realised that she had fallen asleep in his arms and was emitting little contented purrs.

He smiled and lay back with her still in his arms and closed his eyes.

Neither of them saw the door opening and Edwin and Lizzie sticking their heads round the door. Lizzie looked up at Edwin and he looked down at her.

They split into identical grins.

"Nice!" they whispered together.

The heads withdrew and the door closed again.

Outside the room the pair replaced the chair they had propped up against the door handle.

They gave each other a high five before scuttling off to their rooms as they heard George and Nora coming up to check on them.


	6. Eavesdropping

Lizzie and Edwin chuckled as they listened in on the argument that was currently issuing from Derek's bedroom.

The reason for this argument was simple: a day stuck in one room with no toilet facilities and only chocolate bars to eat was beginning to grate on Casey's nerves. And the fact that Casey was getting annoyed and fidgety was making Derek get annoyed.

Two kegs of gunpowder and two very short fuses.

The two had spent more than half the day fighting.

"When should we let them out?" Lizzie said looking at Edwin's convulsed face.

"Maybe later tonight, we don't want to completely ruin all harmony we have in the house."

"We had harmony in this house?"

Edwin stopped laughing for a second before they both cracked up again.

"Well, your plan worked. They aren't getting along anymore. And they have no idea we did it." Edwin said putting his ear to the door again.

"Are you sure putting them in there together was a good idea? I mean, what if they find out we did it and come after us to get revenge?"

Edwin removed his ear and glared at Lizzie.

"It was your idea Lizzie! You can't suggest something as great as that and then back out of it!"

"It's gone awfully quiet in there hasn't it?" Lizzie said after a pause.

"They're probably making out from all that charged tension."

Pause.

"EW!" they said together before hurrying away from the door.

Derek sat back against the door.

"I don't believe this." He said looking up at Casey who slid down next to him.

"How could they do this to us?" she said simply, putting her head on his shoulder.

"I am going to kill them."

"Leave my sister to me."

"What do you say we work together and get them both back?"

"What did you have in mind?"

Derek grinned at her.

"One word. Handcuffs."

A grin spread over Casey's features.

"Good plan." Was all she said.


	7. Planning Revenge

When Edwin and Lizzie let their siblings out they expected to be either bombarded with queries as to how they got stuck in there or a tidal wave of fury as Casey and Derek had worked out that they had shut them in there.

Therefore it came as a big surprise when the pair ignored them and simply bolted for the bathroom and then proceeded to have a fight to get in it first.

Once refreshed, Derek and Casey practically ran to the kitchen for food. While there they discussed their plan.

"How do we get the handcuffs on them? I mean, without them knowing. It's practically impossible." Casey said as she poured them both drinks.

"But it isn't completely impossible. We can do this. We just need to think." Derek said, buttering lots of slices of bread for them.

Casey paused as she pulled various sandwich toppings from out of the fridge. "I have an idea." She said pensively.

Derek gave her an encouraging look as he relieved her arms of some cheeses.

"They won't notice it if they're asleep. But they don't sleep in the same bed. Now, I happen to know that Lizzie tends to get scared at night and usually when she gets scared she crawls in bed with me for comfort. She won't do that now because she's scared of our reaction. So, naturally she'll crawl into mum's bed. We have to get our parents out of the house. If mum's not here then she will have no choice than to go to Edwin for comfort. One of us hides in Edwin's room and handcuffs them when they both fall asleep again."

"If we can pull that off then we'd win the Nobel. It's a good plan though, and so far the only one we have. Well done, Case!" he said giving her a quick kiss on the cheek as she handed him the marmite.

Nora and George entered the room with Marti in tow.

"So I see you finally got out of the room. I will have words with Edwin and Lizzie at some point." George said smirking.

"There won't be any need for that. We've found a way to get back at them." Derek replied calmly.

"You're not going to do anything too terrible to them are you? I know they can be a pain in the neck sometimes but we would prefer it if you didn't kill them. Think of the mess that you'll be cleaning up if you did."

"Oh no, nothing like that. We're taking a leaf out of their books and owning it. I assume that their plan was to make us loathe each other again, well believe me when I say that they will loathe each other by the time we get through with them." Casey said winking at Derek.

"All we ask is that you leave us alone in the house for an evening with them. Will you do that?" Derek said taking her hint.

"How long are we talking?"

"Until they get to sleep. Or try to."

"When do you want us out?"

"I think we should have a few days of showing them that we are thoroughly annoyed with them and to set up our payback. Is that okay?" Casey asked taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"What did Ed and Lizzie do? Were they bad?" Marti asked innocently, sauntering over to stand beside Casey. Casey lifted her onto the counter and offered her some of her sandwich.

"Yes they were bad. They locked me in Smerek's bedroom with Smerek himself. That was very bad of them wasn't it? They left us in there for a whole day. Do you want to help us?"

Marti nodded and Casey smiled at her.

"Then whatever you do you mustn't give us away to them. If you want to you can ask one of them to play with you while the other is doing something important."

"I don't understand."

"You will, Smartie, in time."


	8. Handcuffs

Surprisingly the hand cuffing of the brats went surprisingly smoothly. Casey did it and when she got back to her room she found Derek lounging on her bed. As soon as she closed her door giggles started bursting out of her. He gave her a quizzical look…which only made her laugh harder. She put her hands up and tried to stop laughing.

"You'll see in the morning." She managed before sinking down on the bed beside him.

"What have you done?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. He rolled his eyes.

"You cuffed them together, right?"

"I did," Pause. Laugh. "And I went one better!" Casey leant towards him and whispered in his ear what she had done. He guffawed.

Pulling her closer he kissed her on the forehead and she snuggled into him, still emitting little giggles now and then.

In the morning Edwin awoke to find something in the bed next to him. Who the hell? Oh yes, now he remembered. Lizzie had got scared and crawled into bed with him for comfort. Parents were out and she was too scared to go to Casey and Derek on account of they had locked them in Derek's bedroom earlier that week.

He raised his left arm to rub some of the sleep from his eyes. Another hand came with it, Lizzie's. Around their wrists was a set of steel handcuffs. He swore loudly and this woke Lizzie up. She screamed when she saw the manacles binding them together. Her left hand was tied to his left. This made it way more difficult.

"You know who did this don't you?" he said trying not to cry at their predicament.

She looked up and she had tears glistening on her cheeks. He brushed them away with his thumb.

"It'll be alright. You'll see."

"No it won't!" she cried. "It won't be alright. How are we going to do anything? What are we going to do?"

"Beg for mercy and suck up to them. We can only hope they will let us out soon. Or maybe find a way of stealing the key from them. But that'll be plan B. Come on we'd better get up."

"How are we going to get dressed? Or showered? Or go to the bathroom?"

Edwin shrugged and they got out of bed and headed downstairs, Lizzie's left arm behind her so they could both walk forwards.

When they entered the kitchen everyone else was already there. Immediately they all cracked up laughing, except Marti who didn't get it.

"That'll teach you to mess with us." Derek said squeezing Casey's hand. She returned his grin and smiled sweetly and innocently.

"You should have known better. You might have known we would get back at you for locking us in the room." She said sweetly.

"Yes, and we've learnt our lesson. Can you let us out now?" Edwin pleaded.

"Yeah, we're really sorry. We'll never do it again." Lizzie added.

For a moment Casey's hand went to her neck, where the little silver key hung on a chain, but Derek stopped her hand before it reached it. She sent him a questioning look and then it clicked.

"No," she said the smile fixing itself back onto her features. "You can stay like that for a while. You're lucky its Saturday. No one else will see you."

"Yes they will, remember? Sam and Emily are coming over today." Derek reminded her handing her a kiwi he had been kind enough to slice open for her.

"We'll be in our rooms then."

"How? You're tied together, remember." Nora asked curiously, over the top of her coffee.

Casey and Derek stared hard at each other and then they nodded.

"Hey, Marti, don't you want to show Edwin your new dress? Derek hasn't seen it either. Why don't you go put it on and show it to us?" Casey said coaxingly.

"We haven't seen it either, Marti. Casey stole you all for herself yesterday after school. She said the dress was really pretty." Nora said looking kindly at her stepdaughter.

Marti smiled and said "Okay!" chirpily, hopping up and rushing upstairs.

"Emily and Sam should be here soon. The four of us were going to hang out and play video games before we go to watch the boys at their game this afternoon." Casey said innocently, refilling Derek's orange juice.

"We'll just go upstairs then." Edwin said as the doorbell rang.

"Oh no you don't!" George said catching his youngest son by the back of his PJ's and therefore pulling Lizzie over. She fell heavily and Edwin yanked her to her feet and Casey opened the door and Sam and Emily stood there observing the pair in shock and surprise. What a family!

"Marti want to show all of us her dress. You wouldn't be that mean to your sister would you? Only Casey's seen the dress on her." George continued, waving at Emily and Sam.

"I'll explain later." Casey hissed to their guests ushering them over the threshold.

Marti then came down the stairs in a very pretty blue dress with white flowers on it. She was very proud of it and as Casey paused at the stairs, Marti gave her a kiss on the cheek in thanks for buying her a new dress. Marti did a couple of twirls for everyone and they applauded and then Nora whisked her up and out of it again before she had a chance of getting it dirty.

Lizzie and Edwin tried to be discreet as they rushed out of the room and up the stairs under the pregnant stares of the newcomers who were quick to note the handcuffs.

"Care to explain?" Emily said breaking the silence as Derek came up to them.


End file.
